Lewis v. MacMillan-Bloedel, Inc.

670 F. Supp. 330, 44 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 107
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Alabama
DecidedNovember 17, 1986
DocketCiv. A. No. CV 83-1429-H
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 670 F. Supp. 330 (Lewis v. MacMillan-Bloedel, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lewis v. MacMillan-Bloedel, Inc., 670 F. Supp. 330, 44 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 107 (S.D. Ala. 1986).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

HAND, Chief Judge.

This case came on for trial to the Court on November 3, 1986. At the close of each plaintiff’s case, the defendant, pursuant to F.R.C.P. 41(b), moved for involuntary dismissal on the grounds that upon the facts and law the plaintiffs had shown no right to relief. After considering the evidence presented by the plaintiffs, the applicable law, and the argument of counsel, the Court determined to grant the motions. On the evidence presented by the plaintiffs, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The following facts appear from the evidence presented by the plaintiffs and from the agreed facts as set forth by counsel for the parties in the Pre-trial Order.

A. General.

1. MacMillan Bloedel, Inc. (“the Company”) operates three divisions at Pine Hill, Alabama. Such divisions are (a) the Pulp and Paper Division, (b) the Wood Products Division, and (c) the Woodlands Division. Each such division is governed by a separate collective bargaining agreement.

2. This case concerns the Pulp and Paper Division since plaintiff Robert Howard is in the Pulp and Paper Division and plaintiff Albert Lewis was in the Pulp and Paper Division.

B. Plaintiff Robert Howard.

1. Plaintiff Robert Howard was hired on April 25, 1973, in the Pulp and Paper Division.

2. On November 8,1976, Howard bid on the Utility job in the Pulp Mill and was awarded such job.

3. Howard is presently holding the job of 2nd Assistant Pulping Operator in the Pulp Mill. Such job is the third job from the top of the line of progression.

4. In 1974, while Howard was still in the Labor & Relief Crew, he filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging he was discriminated against in not having been hired as a Maintenance Mechanic. Such charge was settled by a “no fault” EEOC settlement agreement in 1977, under which he was paid an agreed sum of money and which included a provision that “It is agreed that the Charging Party will be promoted to openings occurring after the execution and approval of this Agreement in the Utility ‘A’ Mechanic job in the Maintenance line of progression in accordance with his seniority.”

5. No one with less seniority thereafter moved to such utility jobs. Accordingly, the Settlement Agreement has not in any way been breached. Plaintiff Howard [332]*332agreed to and signed an agreement to move to such job “in accordance with his seniority”, so the fact no one with less seniority thereafter moved to the job precludes any claim of non-compliance. In this regard, it might also be noted that in testifying, plaintiff Howard ultimately came to the point of agreeing he had been represented by counsel in connection with such settlement agreement.

6. The Mechanic jobs, in descending order, are the following:

— General Mechanic
— AA Mechanic
— A. Mechanic
— B Mechanic
— C Mechanic

7. The Mechanic jobs are filled by outside hiring and by internal transfers of employees from production jobs, subject to the provisions of the Union contract. Most of the openings in Mechanic jobs have been filled by hiring from outside.

8. Mr. Howard agreed in his testimony that the persons who have been hired from the outside for the Mechanic jobs are both black and white, and similarly the production employees who have been transferred to Mechanic are both black and white.

9. Production employees who are interested in transferring to Mechanic apply for such transfer and take an examination known as the Mechanic C test.

10. In 1980, Mr. Howard successfully passed the Mechanic C test. His name has been and remains on the Company’s list of employees applying for and eligible for transfer to Maintenance Mechanic.

11. Both white and black employees are and have been on such list of employees eligible to transfer to the Mechanic C job.

12. The names of the employees eligible to transfer to Mechanic have been lined up on the lists in order of seniority. According to Mr. Howard’s testimony, he has been No. 12 on the list since 1980, which would mean that there have been 11 employees with more seniority ahead of him.

13. In April of 1981, the Company hired Joe Lolley as a Mechanic B. Mr. Howard contends that Joe Lolley, who is white, was no more qualified than he and that in hiring Mr. Lolley, the Company discriminated against Mr. Howard because of his race. The evidence also establishes that during 1981 and 1982, the Company hired Clifton Phillips and Earl Parrish in the Mechanic A job, with the last of such hires occurring in August 1982.

14. The evidence establishes that at the time Joe Lolley was hired, Mr. Howard was No. 12 on the list of employees eligible for transfer to Mechanic, and that all of the employees with more seniority above him on the list were, with one exception, white. Similarly, the persons above Mr. Howard on the transfer list when Clifton Phillips and Earl Parrish were hired were mostly white. Accordingly, with respect to the hiring of Lolley, Phillips, and Parrish, Mr. Howard was in no different position than those white employees with more seniority than Mr. Howard who had similarly applied for and were eligible for, but had not been transferred to the Mechanic job.

15. The non-racial nature of the situation was recognized by Mr. Howard himself in testifying that all of the persons on the transfer list, both black and white, were in the same situation, and the hiring discriminated against all of them, including him. The alleged discrimination to which he had reference obviously was not racial, as most of the employees on the transfer list were white.

16. Since Mr. Howard’s seniority placed him in the No. 12 position on the transfer list, he was 11 positions away from being the employee with the most to complain about with regard to the hiring of Joe Lolley as a Mechanic B. The majority of such 11 employees were white.

17. The hiring of Joe Lolley resulted in the filing of grievances. The matter was resolved by a settlement between the Company and the Union under which three employees on the transfer list were transferred to Mechanic, such employees consisting of two white employees and one black employee. There was no evidence that the settlement was anything other than a fair resolution of the matter.

[333]*33318. No one with less seniority than Mr. Howard has been transferred to Maintenance Mechanic.

19. The EEOC charge on which Mr. Howard has sued was filed on April 23, 1983. Such charge was attached to the complaint and was specified by plaintiff Howard through- his counsel as the charge on which he is suing.

20. Such charge on April 23, 1983 was filed more than 180 days following the hiring of Lolley, Phillips and Parrish. The charge makes no reference to these hires.

21. Mr. Howard has not identified any act of alleged discrimination occurring within the period of 180 days preceding the filing of his EEOC charge.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hair v. Helena Chemical Co.
732 F. Supp. 1515 (E.D. Arkansas, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
670 F. Supp. 330, 44 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-macmillan-bloedel-inc-alsd-1986.